Seattle ‘Fonk to the Future’ ad wins award

Two of the . . . um, unusual and enthusiastic cable TV commercials for Seattle’s Vern Fonk Insurance have each won two second-place awards from an advertising industry group.

The commercials received “Telly” awards from a group of 40 judges that screened more than 14,000 entries from all 50 states and 5 continents.

The 28th Annual Telly Awards included a bronze statuette for Vern Fonk in the high-risk insurance and humor categories for both “Fonk to the Future” (below) and “Pulled Over,” which is not available online.

The commercials — which, like others for the insurance company, satirize movies, TV shows or unusual dance numbers — are televised in Seattle and Portland. They star the manager of Vern Fonk’s Everett office, Rob Thielke, are written by Thielke and Vern Fonk owners Kevin and Rene Mulvaney, are produced by Stevenson Advertising of Lynnwood and are edited by Stevenson’s Stephan Gray.

The company’s slogan, “Remember to honk when you drive by Vern Fonk,” ends each commercial.

The award statuettes, designed by the same firm that makes the Oscar and Emmy figurines, each weigh more than 4-1/2 pounds, the Telly Awards Web site would have us know. And bronze is second place in the Tellys, after silver. There are no gold or third-place awards.

Among other Seattle-based Telly winners for commercials this year were:

Pemco Insurance, with a silver statuette for humor for each of its six “Northwest Types” commercials, produced by Seattle’s DNA Brand Mechanics. Some examples are here — “Blue-Tarp Camper” and “Sandals-and-Socks Guy”

Boeing Employee Credit Union, with a silver award for banks with over $500 million in assets, produced by DNA Brand Mechanics.

Lill Monster Motion Pictures and KING 5 TV, with two silver awards, one each for campaign promotion and videography/cinematography, produced by Lill Monster Motion Pictures.

Bronze winners aren’t listed by the Telly Awards. The P-I learned of Vern Fonk’s awards through a press release.

From 7 percent to 10 percent of Telly entrants are chosen as silver (first-place) award winners. Bronze winners typically represent 18 percent to 25 percent of entrants. Some categories can have multiple winners, and some may have none.